Chris Henningsen was hoping that Aaron Kaercher would join his extended family for Christmas brunch this year , and Aaron knows why.

“Chris,” Aaron says with a laugh, “wanted one more holiday with his liver.”

But Aaron and his wife, Laurel, will be back home in Ely, which is happy and unexpected news. On Dec. 6, 24-year-old Chris donated 58 percent of his liver to friend and bandmate, Aaron, who is 41. The two, who met through music four years ago, stunned their medical staff by walking out of the hospital less than a week later.

“Record speed,” Aaron said.

They returned to the University of Minnesota Medical Center two weeks later to show their gratitude, playing a tear-inducing 30-minute set of their signature folk-rock music, then bringing levity to the staff by showing off their matching T-shirts: “I pooped today!”

The men met in 2009, when Chris was attending Vermilion Community College. He’d catch Aaron’s gigs at an outdoor spot where Aaron played guitar and sang with a four-piece band called Crazy Neighbors. Chris, a mandolin player, “wondered if he could jam with us,” Aaron says. “We haven’t been able to get rid of him since.”

JIM GEHRZ

Chris Henningsen, left, gave part of his liver to former bandmate Aaron Kaercher. The pair recently returned to the U of M Medical Center two weeks after the surgery for a “thank-you” performance.

Chris juggled school and gigs and graduated with honors. Aaron, a full-time musician and the father of five, traveled around the Midwest. A few years ago, Aaron started feeling like “something was off.” He bowed out of a performance one weekend, but things didn’t get better. Tests and more tests revealed that his liver was failing.

“It was a shock to everybody,” he says. He wasn’t a heavy drinker. “No war stories of younger years filled with boozing.”

The band disbanded after that, and Chris returned to the Twin Cities. He’d check in with Aaron, “who wouldn’t be all that forthcoming” about how sick he was.

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